ammo.js
Demos
Overview
Example code to give you an idea of the API:
- https://github.com/kripken/ammo.js/blob/master/examples/webgl_demo/worker.js#L6 which interacts with https://github.com/kripken/ammo.js/blob/master/examples/webgl_demo/ammo.html#L14
ammo.js is a direct port of the Bullet physics engine to JavaScript, using Emscripten. The source code is translated directly to JavaScript, without human rewriting, so functionality should be identical to the original Bullet.
Note: ammo.js has just been updated to a new porting approach. If you find some part of the Bullet API that is not supported that you need, please see kripken#60
'ammo' stands for "Avoided Making My Own js physics engine by compiling bullet from C++" ;)
ammo.js is zlib licensed, just like Bullet.
Discussion takes place on IRC at #emscripten on Mozilla's server (irc.mozilla.org)
Instructions
builds/ammo.js
contains a prebuilt version of ammo.js. This is probably what you want.
You can also build ammo.js yourself, as follows:
-
Get Emscripten
and set it up. See
http://kripken.github.io/emscripten-site/docs/getting_started/
-
Run the build script,
python make.py
which should generate builds/ammo.js.
-
Optionally, run the automatic tests,
python test.py
Usage
The most straightforward thing is if you want to write your code in C++, and run that on the web. If so, then compile your code into LLVM, link it with bullet, and compile that to JavaScript using emscripten. (The easiest way to link it is to add your .bc file to the llvm-link command in make.py.)
If, on the other hand, you want to write code in JavaScript, you can use the autogenerated binding code. A complete example appears in
examples/hello_world.js
That is HelloWorld.cpp from Bullet, translated to JavaScript. Other examples in that directory might be useful as well. In particular see the WebGL demo code in
examples/webgl_demo/ammo.html
Bindings API
ammo.js autogenerates its API from the Bullet source code, so it should be basically identical. There are however some differences and things to be aware of:
-
See https://github.com/kripken/emscripten/wiki/WebIDL-Binder for a description of the bindings tool we use here, which includes instructions for how to use the wrapped objects.
-
All ammo.js elements should be accessed through
Ammo.*
. For example,Ammo.btVector3
, etc., as you can see in the example code. -
Member variables of structs and classes can be accessed through setter and getter functions, that are prefixed with
|get_|
or|set_|
. For example,rayCallback.get_m_rayToWorld()
will get
m_rayToWorld
from say aClosestRayResultCallback
. Native JavaScript getters and setters could give a slightly nicer API here, however their performance is potentially problematic. -
Functions returning or getting
float&
orbtScalar&
are converted to float. The reason is thatfloat&
is basicallyfloat*
with nicer syntax in C++, but from JavaScript you would need to write to the heap every time you call such a function, making usage very ugly. With this change, you can do|new btVector3(5, 6, 7)|
and it will work as expected. If you find a case where you need the float& method, please file an issue. -
Not all classes are exposed, as only what is described in ammo.idl is wrapped. Please submit pull requests with extra stuff that you need and add.
-
There is experimental support for binding operator functions. The following might work:
Operator Name in JS =
op_set
+
op_add
-
op_sub
*
op_mul
/
op_div
[]
op_get
==
op_eq
Reducing Build Size
The size of the ammo.js builds can be reduced in several ways:
-
Removing uneeded interfaces from ammo.idl. Some good examples of this are
btIDebugDraw
andDebugDrawer
, which are both only needed if visual debug rendering is desired. -
Removing methods from the
-s EXPORTED_RUNTIME_METHODS=[]
argument in make.py. For example,Pointer_stringify
is only needed if printable error messages are desired fromDebugDrawer
.
Troubleshooting
-
It's easy to forget to write |new| when creating an object, for example
var vec = Ammo.btVector3(1,2,3); // This is wrong! Need 'new'!
This can lead to error messages like the following:
Cannot read property 'a' of undefined
Cannot read property 'ptr' of undefined
This is an annoying aspect of JavaScript, sadly.
Reporting Issues
If you find a bug in ammo.js and file an issue, please include a script that reproduces the problem. That way it is easier to debug, and we can then include that script in our automatic tests.
Release Process
Pushing a new build in builds/ammo.js
should be done only after the
following steps:
-
Build using python make.py closure which generates the asm.js build, and python make.py closure wasm which generates the wasm build.
-
Make sure it passes all automatic tests using python test.py (build-name) Note that it uses SpiderMonkey by default, and SPIDERMONKEY_ENGINE is defined in ~/.emscripten, see the script contents for details.
-
Run the WebGL demo in examples/webgl_demo and make sure it looks ok, using something like firefox examples/webgl_demo/ammo.html (chrome will need a webserver as it doesn't like file:// urls)
Upstream Version
Bullet 2.82 patched with raycast fix from 2.83